A hard disk drive (HDD), which is one kind of information storage device, is an apparatus which writes data to and/or reads data from a disk using a read/write head. In such an HDD, a read/write head lifts up to a predetermined height from a recoding surface of a disk which is rotating, moves to a desired position by the movement of an actuator, and perform its function.
In such a conventional HDD, when a disk stops rotating, a read/write head is parked in a position in which the read/write head has been taken out of a recoding surface of the disk so that the read/write head does not crash into the recoding surface. When the read/write head is parked in a parking zone of the disk or at a ramp, an actuator may arbitrarily pivot due to an external impact or vibration applied to the conventional HDD. Thus, the read/write head may get out of the parking position and move to the recording surface of the disk. In this case, the read/write head may contact the recording surface of the disk, thereby damaging the read/write head or the recording surface of the disk. Therefore, when the disk stops rotating and thus the read/write head is parked in the parking position, the actuator is locked in the parking position so that the actuator does not arbitrarily pivot. For this purpose, the conventional HDD includes various types of actuator latch apparatuses. For example, general actuator latch apparatuses include an inertial latch apparatus which uses a latch lever which pivots due to inertia.
The latch lever of the inertial latch apparatus is combined with and pivots on a pivot shaft which is installed at a base of the conventional HDD. However, when the latch lever is combined with the pivot shaft, the latch lever has a freedom to move in a vertical direction. Thus, the latch lever vibrates in the vertical direction due to an impact or a vibration. If the conventional HDD is operating, i.e., the read/write head is positioned above the recording surface of the disk which is rotating, and an impact is applied to the conventional HDD, the latch lever vibrates in the vertical direction and thus crashes into the base. When the impact is applied to the base due to this crash, the impact is transmitted to the actuator through the base, and the read/write head installed at the actuator is affected by the impact. Accordingly, the read/write head fails to write data to a desired track of the disk but writes data to another adjacent track. In other words, performance of the read/write head is deteriorated.